How can you create a positive first impression that shows your new hires how much they matter on their first day?
The onboarding period establishes a critical foundation for an employee’s entire experience within your organization. And here’s the thing…
First impressions matter. A lot.
New employees begin to evaluate your company’s culture and values alongside their perceived worth to you when they enter your office. Onboarding gifts for employees help enhance the initial experience and build a positive foundation for sustained engagement and satisfaction.
This article explains the effect of onboarding gifts on employee satisfaction and provides reasons why they should be integrated into your onboarding process.
What’s coming up:
- Why Employee Satisfaction Matters
- How Onboarding Gifts Influence First Impressions
- The Psychology Behind Gift-Giving in the Workplace
- Key Statistics on Employee Satisfaction
- Types of Effective Onboarding Gifts
Why Employee Satisfaction Matters
- Employee satisfaction isn’t just a feel-good metric. The level of employee satisfaction creates direct effects on your company’s financial performance.
- Higher productivity
- Lower turnover rates
- Stronger team collaboration
- Better customer service
Increased innovation
Engaged employees result from high satisfaction levels in their workplace. And engaged employees are good for business.
A recent Pew Research study shows that exactly 50% of US workers report being extremely or very satisfied with their jobs whereas 38% feel somewhat satisfied and 12% are completely dissatisfied.
The statistics reveal an enormous opportunity for employers to improve employee satisfaction.
The recent Gallup data reveals companies need to significantly enhance workforce engagement methods during initial hiring stages.
How Onboarding Gifts Influence First Impressions
- Reflect on your initial experience when you began working at a new company…
- Did your desk have a welcome package when you started your new job? Did anyone remember your first day? How did it make you feel?
- The onboarding process provides companies with an opportunity to establish strong positive impressions on new employees. An onboarding gift serves multiple purposes:
- Creates an immediate sense of belonging
- Shows thoughtfulness and preparation
- Demonstrates company values in action
- Eases first-day nerves
Provides practical tools for success
When new employees receive thoughtful onboarding gifts for employees, they feel valued from day one. The initial positive experience serves as the foundation for the entire duration of their employment.
You can head to https://corporategift.com/occasions/onboarding-gifts/ to find these thoughtful gifts!
The Psychology Behind Gift-Giving in the Workplace
- Scientific evidence supports the high effectiveness of onboarding gifts.
- The practice of gift-giving initiates psychological responses that work to enhance the connection between employers and employees.
- When people receive gifts they naturally want to reciprocate by showing increased loyalty and effort.
- Thoughtful gifts establish positive emotional associations between employees and your company
- Gifts serve as tangible indicators that an employee holds significance and value within the organization.
A welcome gift helps new employees manage their transition-related stress.
Employees develop lasting goodwill over their tenure due to these psychological effects.
Key Statistics on Employee Satisfaction
The collected data provides a transparent view of current employee satisfaction levels.
Job satisfaction among US workers reached its highest point since 1987 in 2022 as 62.3% of workers reported being happy with their jobs according to Conference Board data.
Workers aged 65 and older show greater job satisfaction at 67% compared to just 43% among workers under 30. Workers with higher incomes demonstrate greater satisfaction levels at 54% compared to 41% satisfaction among their lower-income counterparts according to recent findings.
Research studies reveal that employee satisfaction with training, promotion opportunities and feedback declined from 2023 to 2024 which could be improved by implementing thoughtful onboarding practices that include gifts.
The expectation for raises among 83% of workers for 2023 stands with an anticipated 8.3% increase which demonstrates compensation’s fundamental role yet opens opportunities for morale-boosting benefits like onboarding gifts as shown by recent surveys.
The statistics show positive trends in job satisfaction across the board yet indicate that younger workers need more improvements. Gifting thoughtful items during the onboarding process works to narrow the satisfaction gap.
Types of Effective Onboarding Gifts
- Not all onboarding gifts are created equal. The most effective gifts are:
- A personalized approach demonstrates you’ve tailored your attention to each individual.
- Practical– Provides something truly useful
- Aligned with company values– Reinforces your culture
- High-quality gifts show employees how much the company values them.
- These particular gifts routinely produce excellent results.
- Company-branded welcome kits
- Quality branded apparel (not just cheap t-shirts)
- Premium water bottles or coffee mugs
- Stylish notebooks and pens
- Technology accessories
- Wireless chargers
- Noise-canceling headphones
- Ergonomic desk accessories
- Experience-based gifts
- Team lunch vouchers
- Coffee gift cards
- Subscription services
- Wellness packages
- Fitness trackers
- Meditation app subscriptions
Self-care items
Select gifts that both represent your company’s values and serve as practical or pleasurable benefits for the recipient.
Implementing an Onboarding Gift Strategy
How can you establish a successful program for onboarding gifts? Here’s how to do it right:
Step 1: Your onboarding gifts require defined goals which specify what you want to accomplish through them. Is it increased retention? Better culture alignment? More immediate productivity?
Step 2: Set up an appropriate budget for each employee that will cover the cost of their onboarding gifts. Understand that onboarding gifts represent an investment rather than simply an expenditure.
Step 3: Choose presentation moments for gifts either on the first day, at the end of the first week or spread them throughout the entire onboarding process.
Step 4: Personalize gifts wherever possible through customized notes and items that reflect each person’s role, department affiliation, or personal preferences.
Step 5: Set up a dependable system to make sure all new hires get their planned gifts.
Step 6: Collect feedback from new employees regarding their onboarding gifts to refine your program continually.
Adherence to these steps enables you to establish a long-lasting onboarding gift strategy that produces consistent outcomes.
Measuring the ROI of Onboarding Gifts
- Onboarding gifts need to generate measurable valuesimilar to any business investment. Monitoring your program’s effectiveness requires tracking specific performance indicators.
- Short-term indicators:
- New hire satisfaction survey scores
- Time-to-productivity metrics
- Social media mentions/shares about the experience
- Long-term measurements:
- Long-term success measurement includes tracking employee retention at 90 days, 6 months, and 1 year.
- Employee engagement scores
Referral rates from new hires
Tracking these metrics helps you measure the effectiveness of your onboarding gift program to enable informed investment decisions.
Wrapping It All Up
- The purpose of onboarding gifts extends beyond simple perks as they serve as strategic instruments that drive employee satisfaction starting from their first day. The competitive job market requires companies to fight for top talent and thoughtful touches can tip the scales in their favor.
- When implemented correctly, an onboarding gift strategy:
- Creates positive first impressions
- Demonstrates company values in action
- Eases the transition for new employees
- Builds immediate emotional connection
Sets the foundation for long-term engagement
Currently only half of US employees express high job satisfaction which creates an opportunity to enhance employee experience through strategic onboarding gifts.
Personalized and practical onboarding gifts that reflect your company values stand out as the most effective tools for welcoming new employees. Thoughtful welcome gifts demonstrate your commitment to valuing new team members while also showing you invest in their future success.
What will be waiting for new employees on their desks when they start work on their first day?
